RADIOMARU.COM

is bryan lee o'malley's website

RADIOMARU.COM

Scroll to Top

  • Profile
  • Pages

  • ABOUT

    Bryan Lee O'Malley is the creator of the bestselling SCOTT PILGRIM graphic novel series, which was adapted into a major motion picture, SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD, in 2010.

    He lives in Los Angeles, where he continues to make comics.

    Write to: bryan@radiomaru.com

    • Flickr
    • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Archive
  • Ask me something. NOTE: I don't repost compliments, but i do read them and appreciate them.

Pages:

  • The Early Years
  • Lost At Sea
  • Scott Pilgrim
  • Seconds
People often ask about my writing process. I was actually looking at the new edition of Scott Pilgrim 2 the other day like “how DID i write this?” and so I went into the archives and grabbed the outline and a few script pages… (note: this book was originally created over Winter 2004-5 and released May 2005) STEP ONE: NOTES (not shown) I scribbled all over notebooks and sketchbooks (and text files on the computer) figuring out scenes I wanted to show, themes I was thinking about, and the overall direction of the story STEP TWO: OUTLINE I turned my mess of ideas into a rough, straightforward, chronological outline (shown here) STEP THREE: SCRIPT I turned the rough outline into a basic script. At this point i was using a bastardized format of my own invention (seen here); later I went on to use a more standard ‘screenplay’ format. My scripts have always been largely dialogue-based with just the barest descriptions of stuff, since I’m writing for myself to draw, and I know what I want stuff to look like — or I figure I’ll worry about it later. (often to my detriment!) I also want to note that I do a lot of adverb-descriptions on each line of dialogue, ie “offended”, “dismissive”, “incredulous” — that’s really just to remind myself what kind of facial expressions and “acting” I was thinking of. You’re not supposed to do that in a screenplay (via it’s rude to actors, who need to make their own decisions from moment to moment), but I think it makes a lot of sense for comics. These pages are part of “scene 6-4” on the outline (I always name my scenes like Super Mario levels), which you can see right away I have decided to alternate between Scott/Kim and Scott/Lisa scenes, which wasn’t indicated on the outline at all. This made Scott into more of an active character, pushing the story forward as I intercut between his interactions with the two different girls. This also helped develop the subplot of Scott’s emotional entanglement with both girls. STEP FOUR: THUMBNAILS These were always really small, maybe two inches high. I can’t really explain this part of the process at all but I feel like this is where a lot of the magic happens. Somehow the text stuff goes in my brain and comes out in these weird scrappy little drawings that always closely resemble the final pages. FINAL Here are the finished pages (from the new edition, colour by Nathan Fairbairn) where you can see how some of the dialogue from the original script got dropped or reworked. These pages seem to have had a bare minimum of revision, though, compared to some of my later stuff (volume 4 script pages were like 85% crossed out and rewritten). OH, BY THE WAY, THE COLOR EDITION VOLUME 2 OF SCOTT PILGRIM WILL BE IN STORES NEXT WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th!
Zoom Info
People often ask about my writing process. I was actually looking at the new edition of Scott Pilgrim 2 the other day like “how DID i write this?” and so I went into the archives and grabbed the outline and a few script pages… (note: this book was originally created over Winter 2004-5 and released May 2005) STEP ONE: NOTES (not shown) I scribbled all over notebooks and sketchbooks (and text files on the computer) figuring out scenes I wanted to show, themes I was thinking about, and the overall direction of the story STEP TWO: OUTLINE I turned my mess of ideas into a rough, straightforward, chronological outline (shown here) STEP THREE: SCRIPT I turned the rough outline into a basic script. At this point i was using a bastardized format of my own invention (seen here); later I went on to use a more standard ‘screenplay’ format. My scripts have always been largely dialogue-based with just the barest descriptions of stuff, since I’m writing for myself to draw, and I know what I want stuff to look like — or I figure I’ll worry about it later. (often to my detriment!) I also want to note that I do a lot of adverb-descriptions on each line of dialogue, ie “offended”, “dismissive”, “incredulous” — that’s really just to remind myself what kind of facial expressions and “acting” I was thinking of. You’re not supposed to do that in a screenplay (via it’s rude to actors, who need to make their own decisions from moment to moment), but I think it makes a lot of sense for comics. These pages are part of “scene 6-4” on the outline (I always name my scenes like Super Mario levels), which you can see right away I have decided to alternate between Scott/Kim and Scott/Lisa scenes, which wasn’t indicated on the outline at all. This made Scott into more of an active character, pushing the story forward as I intercut between his interactions with the two different girls. This also helped develop the subplot of Scott’s emotional entanglement with both girls. STEP FOUR: THUMBNAILS These were always really small, maybe two inches high. I can’t really explain this part of the process at all but I feel like this is where a lot of the magic happens. Somehow the text stuff goes in my brain and comes out in these weird scrappy little drawings that always closely resemble the final pages. FINAL Here are the finished pages (from the new edition, colour by Nathan Fairbairn) where you can see how some of the dialogue from the original script got dropped or reworked. These pages seem to have had a bare minimum of revision, though, compared to some of my later stuff (volume 4 script pages were like 85% crossed out and rewritten). OH, BY THE WAY, THE COLOR EDITION VOLUME 2 OF SCOTT PILGRIM WILL BE IN STORES NEXT WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th!
Zoom Info
People often ask about my writing process. I was actually looking at the new edition of Scott Pilgrim 2 the other day like “how DID i write this?” and so I went into the archives and grabbed the outline and a few script pages… (note: this book was originally created over Winter 2004-5 and released May 2005) STEP ONE: NOTES (not shown) I scribbled all over notebooks and sketchbooks (and text files on the computer) figuring out scenes I wanted to show, themes I was thinking about, and the overall direction of the story STEP TWO: OUTLINE I turned my mess of ideas into a rough, straightforward, chronological outline (shown here) STEP THREE: SCRIPT I turned the rough outline into a basic script. At this point i was using a bastardized format of my own invention (seen here); later I went on to use a more standard ‘screenplay’ format. My scripts have always been largely dialogue-based with just the barest descriptions of stuff, since I’m writing for myself to draw, and I know what I want stuff to look like — or I figure I’ll worry about it later. (often to my detriment!) I also want to note that I do a lot of adverb-descriptions on each line of dialogue, ie “offended”, “dismissive”, “incredulous” — that’s really just to remind myself what kind of facial expressions and “acting” I was thinking of. You’re not supposed to do that in a screenplay (via it’s rude to actors, who need to make their own decisions from moment to moment), but I think it makes a lot of sense for comics. These pages are part of “scene 6-4” on the outline (I always name my scenes like Super Mario levels), which you can see right away I have decided to alternate between Scott/Kim and Scott/Lisa scenes, which wasn’t indicated on the outline at all. This made Scott into more of an active character, pushing the story forward as I intercut between his interactions with the two different girls. This also helped develop the subplot of Scott’s emotional entanglement with both girls. STEP FOUR: THUMBNAILS These were always really small, maybe two inches high. I can’t really explain this part of the process at all but I feel like this is where a lot of the magic happens. Somehow the text stuff goes in my brain and comes out in these weird scrappy little drawings that always closely resemble the final pages. FINAL Here are the finished pages (from the new edition, colour by Nathan Fairbairn) where you can see how some of the dialogue from the original script got dropped or reworked. These pages seem to have had a bare minimum of revision, though, compared to some of my later stuff (volume 4 script pages were like 85% crossed out and rewritten). OH, BY THE WAY, THE COLOR EDITION VOLUME 2 OF SCOTT PILGRIM WILL BE IN STORES NEXT WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th!
Zoom Info
People often ask about my writing process. I was actually looking at the new edition of Scott Pilgrim 2 the other day like “how DID i write this?” and so I went into the archives and grabbed the outline and a few script pages… (note: this book was originally created over Winter 2004-5 and released May 2005) STEP ONE: NOTES (not shown) I scribbled all over notebooks and sketchbooks (and text files on the computer) figuring out scenes I wanted to show, themes I was thinking about, and the overall direction of the story STEP TWO: OUTLINE I turned my mess of ideas into a rough, straightforward, chronological outline (shown here) STEP THREE: SCRIPT I turned the rough outline into a basic script. At this point i was using a bastardized format of my own invention (seen here); later I went on to use a more standard ‘screenplay’ format. My scripts have always been largely dialogue-based with just the barest descriptions of stuff, since I’m writing for myself to draw, and I know what I want stuff to look like — or I figure I’ll worry about it later. (often to my detriment!) I also want to note that I do a lot of adverb-descriptions on each line of dialogue, ie “offended”, “dismissive”, “incredulous” — that’s really just to remind myself what kind of facial expressions and “acting” I was thinking of. You’re not supposed to do that in a screenplay (via it’s rude to actors, who need to make their own decisions from moment to moment), but I think it makes a lot of sense for comics. These pages are part of “scene 6-4” on the outline (I always name my scenes like Super Mario levels), which you can see right away I have decided to alternate between Scott/Kim and Scott/Lisa scenes, which wasn’t indicated on the outline at all. This made Scott into more of an active character, pushing the story forward as I intercut between his interactions with the two different girls. This also helped develop the subplot of Scott’s emotional entanglement with both girls. STEP FOUR: THUMBNAILS These were always really small, maybe two inches high. I can’t really explain this part of the process at all but I feel like this is where a lot of the magic happens. Somehow the text stuff goes in my brain and comes out in these weird scrappy little drawings that always closely resemble the final pages. FINAL Here are the finished pages (from the new edition, colour by Nathan Fairbairn) where you can see how some of the dialogue from the original script got dropped or reworked. These pages seem to have had a bare minimum of revision, though, compared to some of my later stuff (volume 4 script pages were like 85% crossed out and rewritten). OH, BY THE WAY, THE COLOR EDITION VOLUME 2 OF SCOTT PILGRIM WILL BE IN STORES NEXT WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th!
Zoom Info
People often ask about my writing process. I was actually looking at the new edition of Scott Pilgrim 2 the other day like “how DID i write this?” and so I went into the archives and grabbed the outline and a few script pages… (note: this book was originally created over Winter 2004-5 and released May 2005) STEP ONE: NOTES (not shown) I scribbled all over notebooks and sketchbooks (and text files on the computer) figuring out scenes I wanted to show, themes I was thinking about, and the overall direction of the story STEP TWO: OUTLINE I turned my mess of ideas into a rough, straightforward, chronological outline (shown here) STEP THREE: SCRIPT I turned the rough outline into a basic script. At this point i was using a bastardized format of my own invention (seen here); later I went on to use a more standard ‘screenplay’ format. My scripts have always been largely dialogue-based with just the barest descriptions of stuff, since I’m writing for myself to draw, and I know what I want stuff to look like — or I figure I’ll worry about it later. (often to my detriment!) I also want to note that I do a lot of adverb-descriptions on each line of dialogue, ie “offended”, “dismissive”, “incredulous” — that’s really just to remind myself what kind of facial expressions and “acting” I was thinking of. You’re not supposed to do that in a screenplay (via it’s rude to actors, who need to make their own decisions from moment to moment), but I think it makes a lot of sense for comics. These pages are part of “scene 6-4” on the outline (I always name my scenes like Super Mario levels), which you can see right away I have decided to alternate between Scott/Kim and Scott/Lisa scenes, which wasn’t indicated on the outline at all. This made Scott into more of an active character, pushing the story forward as I intercut between his interactions with the two different girls. This also helped develop the subplot of Scott’s emotional entanglement with both girls. STEP FOUR: THUMBNAILS These were always really small, maybe two inches high. I can’t really explain this part of the process at all but I feel like this is where a lot of the magic happens. Somehow the text stuff goes in my brain and comes out in these weird scrappy little drawings that always closely resemble the final pages. FINAL Here are the finished pages (from the new edition, colour by Nathan Fairbairn) where you can see how some of the dialogue from the original script got dropped or reworked. These pages seem to have had a bare minimum of revision, though, compared to some of my later stuff (volume 4 script pages were like 85% crossed out and rewritten). OH, BY THE WAY, THE COLOR EDITION VOLUME 2 OF SCOTT PILGRIM WILL BE IN STORES NEXT WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th!
Zoom Info

People often ask about my writing process. I was actually looking at the new edition of Scott Pilgrim 2 the other day like “how DID i write this?” and so I went into the archives and grabbed the outline and a few script pages…

(note: this book was originally created over Winter 2004-5 and released May 2005)

STEP ONE: NOTES (not shown)
I scribbled all over notebooks and sketchbooks (and text files on the computer) figuring out scenes I wanted to show, themes I was thinking about, and the overall direction of the story

STEP TWO: OUTLINE
I turned my mess of ideas into a rough, straightforward, chronological outline (shown here)

STEP THREE: SCRIPT
I turned the rough outline into a basic script.

At this point i was using a bastardized format of my own invention (seen here); later I went on to use a more standard ‘screenplay’ format. My scripts have always been largely dialogue-based with just the barest descriptions of stuff, since I’m writing for myself to draw, and I know what I want stuff to look like — or I figure I’ll worry about it later. (often to my detriment!)

I also want to note that I do a lot of adverb-descriptions on each line of dialogue, ie “offended”, “dismissive”, “incredulous” — that’s really just to remind myself what kind of facial expressions and “acting” I was thinking of. You’re not supposed to do that in a screenplay (via it’s rude to actors, who need to make their own decisions from moment to moment), but I think it makes a lot of sense for comics.

These pages are part of “scene 6-4” on the outline (I always name my scenes like Super Mario levels), which you can see right away I have decided to alternate between Scott/Kim and Scott/Lisa scenes, which wasn’t indicated on the outline at all. This made Scott into more of an active character, pushing the story forward as I intercut between his interactions with the two different girls. This also helped develop the subplot of Scott’s emotional entanglement with both girls.

STEP FOUR: THUMBNAILS
These were always really small, maybe two inches high. I can’t really explain this part of the process at all but I feel like this is where a lot of the magic happens. Somehow the text stuff goes in my brain and comes out in these weird scrappy little drawings that always closely resemble the final pages.

FINAL
Here are the finished pages (from the new edition, colour by Nathan Fairbairn) where you can see how some of the dialogue from the original script got dropped or reworked. These pages seem to have had a bare minimum of revision, though, compared to some of my later stuff (volume 4 script pages were like 85% crossed out and rewritten).

OH, BY THE WAY, THE COLOR EDITION VOLUME 2 OF SCOTT PILGRIM WILL BE IN STORES NEXT WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th!

November 1, 2012
1,067 notes

Share
http://tmblr.co/Z6gs5wWPcv7n
askbryan lee o'malleycomicsoutlineprocessscott pilgrimscott pilgrim vs the worldscriptwritinghighlight

1,067 notes

  1. mayotters reblogged this from radiomaru
  2. ribelle-avventurosamente reblogged this from radiomaru
  3. ribelle-avventurosamente likes this
  4. nuggrets likes this
  5. ilerminaty likes this
  6. theneutral0 likes this
  7. lorsaur likes this
  8. kindakay likes this
  9. theswipefolder reblogged this from radiomaru
  10. stutothestars likes this
  11. cynicalgraycrayon reblogged this from radiomaru
  12. thisisavantus likes this
  13. ofoctaves likes this
  14. siasan reblogged this from radiomaru
  15. spacepegasus likes this
  16. turquoiseowls likes this
  17. houzatosis likes this
  18. mendelpalace likes this
  19. nocturnal-girl likes this
  20. nonsenseofrandomness likes this
  21. popcorncomics likes this
  22. why-hello-there-ladies reblogged this from radiomaru
  23. octo-bun likes this
  24. anlasbry likes this
  25. locelot likes this
  26. rushierush reblogged this from radiomaru
  27. rushierush likes this
  28. my-eye-love-this reblogged this from radiomaru
  29. bigbucketofreferences reblogged this from radiomaru
  30. milksprouts reblogged this from radiomaru
  31. serendipityjoy reblogged this from nudityandnerdery
  32. cupidshitman reblogged this from radiomaru
  33. rygadune likes this
  34. kimbyfollows likes this
  35. athruofish likes this
  36. negasean likes this
  37. helperchan likes this
  38. ftasmansplace likes this
  39. dabathhouse reblogged this from radiomaru
  40. dabathhouse likes this
  41. karateardvark reblogged this from radiomaru
  42. mina-chii likes this
  43. forevermoonstruck reblogged this from radiomaru
  44. zed-echo-ro likes this
  45. imakeupnamelesspeople likes this
  46. mr-radical likes this
  47. maximummeow likes this
  48. Show more notesLoading...

< Previous post Next post >

Theme by Pixel Union